The Five Times Keith Watson Passed Out
by the electric phantom
Summary: Five times throughout the course of his life, Keith Obediah Watson lost consciousness. The following are vignettes telling the story of his life through those five instances.
1. Age Eight

**A.N.: Hi, guys! First off, I'd like to officially welcome all of our new authors to the fandom! There have been so many of you lately, bringing so many different stories and ideas to the table. I'm on summer vacation currently, and the writer's block has finally ceased (knock on wood)! So far, I've written two and a half out of the five chapters for this story. As always, I can't wait to hear what you have to say and hope you enjoy!**

The funeral was nothing compared to the lunch afterwards. His mother had taught him about folding the flag, marching, uniforms. She was proud of these things. Dry chicken, somber faces, and quiet classical music were things she would pretend to enjoy but then go eat a hamburger and laugh while listening to rock n' roll in the car right afterwards.

"Hey, little man," his ten-year-old cousin PJ had come up to the table, "I don't want to sound like a meanie, but Donovan, Dante, Cassie, and I were gonna go explore. We wanted to know if you'd like to come."

He didn't really want to go off with his cousins, but anything had to be better than this. As the kids left the dining hall, he pretended not to hear the grown-ups talking about him. How he hadn't cried. How he didn't talk much. How hard it would be for his dad to take care of him.

They followed Dante out into the field behind the dining hall. Murky, grey clouds masked the sun. Even without the sun, the kids could feel the heat and humidity weighing down on their shoulders. However, no amount of unpleasant weather or unfortunate circumstances could stop them from taking part in their usual antics.

Today, the cousins decided on a game of sorcerers. Donovan, Dante, and PJ were the fire-based sorcerers chasing the two water-based sorcerers.

"Ice blast!" Cassie shouted, freezing their enemies in their tracks, "We need to split up! Run!"

The youngest cousin made a mad dash towards their base, a large rock on the other side of the field. In his haste, he did not notice a branch on the ground and fell down. As he sat up, shaking dust off his jacket, he noticed a strange scent he had been previously oblivious to. A faint buzzing caught his attention, and he saw several flies hovering around on small area about a yard away from him. He crawled over towards the strange smell before being overcome with horror.

"Keith!"

"Come on, little man! Wake up!"

"I'll go get Uncle Leo!"

The youngest cousin slowly became aware of the voices above him. He tried opening his eyes, but they just wouldn't budge.

"Do you think the dead bird scared him?" Cassie asked.

"I dunno. Maybe," PJ replied.

Still struggling to open his eyes and still failing, Keith heard the sound of footsteps trampling through the grass.

"Thanks, Dante," he heard a familiar voice say.

"No problem, Uncle Leo."

The little boy's eyes shot open.

"Daddy?"

Keith watched as relief washed upon his father's face. Without hesitation, Leo scooped his son up into his arms and began walking back towards the dining hall. As Keith nestled his head into his father's warm shoulder, he could smell the aftershave he had used that morning.

"I'm glad you're okay, Keith," Leo whispered, "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you too."

 **A.N.: So there we have it! The very first chapter! The father/son relationship was really never played up too much on the show, so I'm kind of taking inspiration from Burt and Kurt Hummel on** _ **Glee**_ **AKA the quickest way to make me cry. But anyways, what do you think? I'd love to hear your opinions as well as guesses on what causes the other four times Keith passes out!**


	2. Age Fifteen

**A.N.: Hello, guys! I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow afternoon, so it's about to be a mad dash to see how much I can do in a very short period of time. In a perfect world, I'll upload two chapters of this fic, the next chapter of my NATM fic (which you should totally check out), and maybe TEC: The Musical. Fingers crossed. So here's the next chapter!**

There were days Keith hated his personal trainer. Sure, he had helped him gain the muscle required to get the role of Joseph in _Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat_. But doing a five mile run on the first day the temperature was over seventy was simply cruel. Drenched in sweat, he fantasized about a Triple Berry Smoothie from The Electric Diner. Oh god, it was hot. The sun seemed particularly hellbent on glaring down on him and he couldn't manage to get anywhere near some shadows.

"Jesus Christ," he muttered under his breath as they crossed a bridge.

"Only half a mile left!" his trainer Jim said encouragingly. Desperate not to seem like a baby, he refused to even acknowledge the fog he felt as if he was running through or the spinning in his head.

He managed to survive the run and change back into his street clothes somehow. But getting to the diner was trickier than he had anticipated. He felt like Johnny Depp in _Pirates of the Caribbean_ , stumbling and struggling to stay up. Once he got to the door of The Electric Diner, he became vaguely aware of the edges of his vision becoming darker.

"Hey you guys!" The sound of Jessica and... someone else making the call jolted him back into consciousness. He was propped up against the bar of the diner, with anxious blue eyes staring down at him.

"Have you been staying hydrated?" Hector asked. The younger member of The Electric Company shook his head as his lifelong friend went behind the counter.

"It's hot, man. You gotta keep drinking."

Both of them were too preoccupied to notice Jessica and Marcus Barnes frantically chasing after Paul the Gorilla.

"You're not gonna tell Jessica, are you?" Keith asked, barely audible over the blender.

"Nah, man," Hector said with a chuckle as he poured the smoothie he made into a cup.

"Now you drink that whole thing," Hector instructed the younger boy.

"Alright."

Keith had intended on saying more, but Jessica rushed through the door with... Marcus Barnes? Okay, he had to know.

 **A.N.: I tried to drop some hints, but it probably wasn't super obvious that this is actually a tag to "Off Target." That little two line exchange between Hector and Keith has always intrigued me. I've been wanting to write a oneshot for it for years, but instead it sort of morphed into this idea! I hope you guys all enjoyed this and I look forward to hearing your feedback. Til next time!**


	3. Age Twenty-One

**A.N.: HEY YOU GUYS! I'm back and at it again! New Jersey was fun, but nothing beats sitting on my bed writing for you guys when I should probably be asleep. Well, anyways, before we get started on this story, I wanted to ask if anybody had ideas for chapter seventy of the musical. I feel like this should be something special, but I'm just really struggling to find something that can actually, like, work. If you have a suggestion, please tell me it as well as what you think of this new installment. Now, onto the show!**

He had never wanted to go to a college party, not after accidentally watching _Animal House_ instead of _Animal Farm_. So, when he got dragged to a Phi Theta Zi bash, he had expected beer pong, vodka, and general grossness. What he ended up getting, much to his surprise, was Cards Against Humanity and cheap wine.

About two hours into the party, a slightly drunk Jessica decided that she needed to go. Normally, he would walk her to her dorm if it was after eleven but he still hadn't played his Stephen Hawking talking dirty card, so she agreed to text him when she got to her dorm.

Two glasses of wine and three rounds later, Keith had yet to receive a text from his best friend. Even at her most intoxicated (which was both terrifying and hilarious), she could make it to her dorm in fifteen minutes; thirty if she decided to get a taco. Something was wrong. He quickly thanked his hosts and left the party, beginning to run as soon as he was out in the cold, night air. With each step, he imagined a potential fate for Jessica, each more horrifying and detailed than the last.

By the time he reached the quad, a familiar figure could be seen carrying heels and limping down the path. His sigh of relief came too soon, though, as he noticed other figures near the vulnerable young woman. Though he couldn't hear a word of their exchange, he had known Jessica long enough to be able to tell that she was not pleased. Both of the other figures were male, at least a foot taller than Jessica, but not particularly muscular. Under normal circumstances, she could easily take care of herself. But tonight...

Almost as if finishing his thought, one of them grabbed Jessica by the arm. Even from a distance, he could see her attempts to fight back, but she was making little to no impact. Without anything resembling a plan, he charged towards the three of them. As he grew closer, he could hear Jessica shouting expletives in every language she knew while the two men laughed. They had her pinned against the wall of the athletics building. He could see their faces now and recognized them from around campus. Fury boiled up inside him, far too close to the surface for him to prevent from erupting.

Then, one of them grabbed her breast, and he got really pissed.

"Hey, assholes!" he shouted, "Get lost!"

He tried not to make eye contact with Jessica, who already looked like she had been through the ringer. Instead, he focused on the two men who now had all eyes on him. The one was slightly taller and had bleached blonde hair. The other was a ginger with devilish, yellow eyes. The ginger eyed him up and down with a sly grin on his face, the predator sizing up potential prey.

"What's the big idea?" he asked mockingly, "Girly was just about to show us a good time." Keith scoffed.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen."

The blonde one finally let go of Jessica, seemingly fascinated by Keith's refusal to back down. He had hoped that, given the opportunity, she would make a run for it, but she barely seemed able to sit up.

BAM! Without warning, the blonde punched him in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain. With some luck, Keith managed to ram him head into the blonde's ribcage. As he stood up, he discovered that the ginger was behind him and punched him right in the jaw. He responded with a strong kick behind the knee. In movies, he'd seen it take down an enemy. This time, it took him to the ground as well. With the wind thoroughly knocked out of him, he was defenseless when the blonde jumped on top of him and proceeded to beat the crap out of him. With each blow, he could feel his strength being knocked right out of him. His only hope was that Jessica managed to somehow get out of this without the unspeakable happening. A shrill, distant-sounding scream only seemed to confirm his fears.

"Get her off me! Get her off!"

The blonde moved to reveal that the scream had actually come from the ginger, who was begin strangled by a piggyback riding Jessica Ruiz. Her distraction gave him the opportunity to kick the blonde in his sensitive spot. With the stronger of the two incapacitated, he also charged at the ginger and knocked him, and Jessica, to the ground.

"Shit," she muttered as her eyes rolled back into her head. She was unconscious. He was alone in this fight. There was no way he could win this with brute force. The ginger was still on top of Jessica, though, a smirk on his face.

"Get off my friend, you son of a bitch," Keith threatened through gritted teeth as he punched the ginger in the face.

After miraculously managing to lift Jessica onto his shoulder, Keith made a run for it. He could feel what little energy he still had fading with each step but he refused to stop even for a second. At least, not yet. He could see a building with lights on in the distance. The two guys were running to catch up and were starting to make progress. With his muscles screaming in agony, Keith forced himself to keep going despite feeling his legs on fire with each step. Jessica's raven hair flapped in the wind, obstructing his vision. As he approached the building, he could faintly make out a tall figure at the door.

"Open up! Open up!" He shouted. Luckily, they did and he ran straight in. The literal weight of his best friend was taken off his shoulders as his vision began to blur.

"Are you okay?" a strangely familiar voice asked him, "Do you need to sit down or something?"

As he felt himself falling, Keith's only thought was that their savior's hair looked oddly like a fedora.

"Keith! Oh god, Keith!" The voice of his best friend dragged him back to the world of the living. Jessica was above him; tattered, bruised, bleeding, but okay. A small smile cracked through her concern.

"Never do that again," she whispered.

"You're welcome," he shot back with what he hoped was a teasing look. After shaking her head in what could only be described as a mix of exhaustion and fondness, Keith was shocked when he felt her blood-caked lips kissing his forehead.

"Have we called the police?" he asked after what felt like a millennia of processing what had just happened. She nodded, looking exhausted as she did so. Gently, she laid next to him and closed her eyes. Ignoring their injuries, they laid side by side in complete and utter syzygy.

 **A.N.: Yes, friends, if my descriptions of their "savior" sounded familiar to you, it's exactly who you thought of. I thought it would be a nice touch having the unsung hero be someone we're all familiar with. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed and can't wait to hear what you have to say!**


	4. Age Twenty-Six

**A.N.: Hey, everyone. I should've probably updated this sooner, but the Pagejumpers project took a lot out of me creatively. And with less content going around, it was harder to get inspired. But this is still one of my shorter hiatuses… haiti? Anyways, here's the chapter. Please enjoy.**

 _There was Mannerly, our Manderly, secretive and silent as it had always been, the grey stone shining in the moonlight of my dream, the mullioned windows reflecting the green lawns and the terrace. Time could not wreck the perfect symmetry of those walls, not the site itself, a jewel_

"Does this look appropriate?"

Keith put down the book to examine Jessica. She was wearing a black lace dress that went down to her knees, her hair tied up in a complex manner, her makeup very plain.

"You look like you're going to a funeral," he said. She pouted at him teasingly.

"Well, I can't just go to a treaty signing looking like it's my bachelorette party," she quipped.

"I suppose that's true," he said with a chuckle, "But you could wear the blue one."

"I think I'll go purple," she said as she went back into the room they were sharing on this spaceship to the Heoni Station. Skelecki was making a treaty with a thoroughly unpleasant species known as the Tajex.

"I still can't believe I'm not gonna be on Earth for my birthday!" he called out.

"Oh, shut up," she muttered as she walked back in looking thoroughly younger and more alive.

"That's the girl I love," he whispered with a smile. Jessica leaned in for a quick peck before picking up her coat.

"We have to get moving," she said, fidgeting with the ring on her finger, "They'll expect us to be the first off the ship."

"Okay, but I'm bringing the book."

 _The flame had a lovely light, staining the paper, crushing the edges, making the slanting writing impossible to distinguish. The fragments fluttered to grey ashes. The letter R was the last to go, it twisted into the flame, it curled outwards for a moment, becoming_

"Ah, Ambassador Ruiz!" a pleasant voice said. Keith looked up to see the familiar face of Jeremy Hoppleschwatzenberg, a Skeleckian politician he had met before. Next to him was a creature he could only assume was a Tajex, tall, slim, six-eyed, and thoroughly unamused looking.

"It's good to see you, Jeremy," Jessica said, shaking his hand, "And you've met my fiancé Keith?"

"A pleasure to see you again, Mr. Watson," Jeremy said as they shook hands.

"The pleasure is all mine."

"And, of course, this is General Ip," Jeremy said, "General, this is Ambassador Ruiz from Earth to Skelecki and her fiancé Professor Keith Watson."

The General curtly nodded to the both of them.

"I am unfamiliar with the title of professor," he stated.

"It's a title denoting many years of focused study and expertise," Jessica explained as if she had done so many times before.

"And what is your area of expertise?" Ip asked.

"Ancient History," Keith stated with a smile, "I focus mostly on literature."

Ip somehow looked less impressed than he previously had.

"Yes, well, we must get going!" Jeremy said with nervous laughter, "Don't want to be late!"

Thirty minutes into the treaty signing, Keith desperately wished he could continue reading without seeming rude. However, he was too close to the front, and the Tajexian Ambassador who was speaking likely would have called him out on it. Blessfully, though, he wrapped up as Jessica got up to speak.

That was when he heard a faint beep, and all hell broke loose.

The explosion went off on the right side of the room, spewing shrapnel everywhere. A fire started in the back corner. Skeleckians and Tajexians were screaming, trying to get out of the room, but the door was locked. Alarms were blaring as the smoke began to infiltrate his lungs. Jessica ran over to him.

"Jess, Jess, you okay?" he whispered, gently pushing back a piece of her hair that had come undone. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Jeremy's dead. A piece of shrapnel- oh my god, Keith!" He followed her horrified gaze down to his stomach, where a large shard of glass had impaled him.

"Uh oh," he whispered. Panic began to set in. He could feel his breath becoming more and more sporadic.

"Sh, it's gonna be okay," she whispered, cupping her hand to his cheek, "I'll get us out of here."

Glancing around the room, she found a large window.

"Better than nothing," she muttered as she threw a high-heeled shoe at the glass, shattering it. Taking off her tights, she examined whatever was just outside the window before tying the tights to the windowsill.

"There's a balcony a floor below us," she informed him, "I'm going to jump down and get help." Biting her lip, she took off the other shoe.

"I love you so much," she whispered, kissing him on the forehead. With that, she grabbed hold of the tights and jumped out of the window.

As he struggled to continue breathing, he heard the chaos going on below him. Jessica's screams. The frantic crowd. The sirens. The door being busted open. The hoses. He stared down at the remains surrounding him, particularly the burnt face of Jeremy. His eyes seemed to zoom in closer and closer to the familiar face until he saw nothing.

 **A.N.: So yeah, I may be a touch needlessly cruel. I promise things will go less bloody in the final installment. For those of you who are wondering (since I know so many of you totally are) the book Keith is reading is actually my favorite:** _ **Rebecca**_ **by Daphne Du Maurier. If anyone's read the book, you might guess how it inspired this.**


	5. Age Twenty-Seven

**A.N.: So you guys might hate me after this one. For the record, it did hurt me to write. That has to count for something. But you know me. It's never happy.**

"Let me in!"

"Miss, we can't-"

"Like hell you can't; I'm his fiancé!"

Groggily, he opened his eyes to see Jessica rushing past a Vellocitarian nurse into the room.

"Jess?" he said groggily. A small smile crept onto her face.

"Hey, sweetie," she turned to the nurse, "How is he?"

"There is a lot of internal bleeding," the nurse said, "They did surgery to repair the hole, but…"

"But?" Jessica asked, eyebrow raised.

"We do not have the correct blood. Human blood is harder to come by, and his type is the rarest one, so-"

"I can donate."

The nurse shook their head.

"Your types don't match. We have to wait for more blood to be delivered." The nurse left the room.

"How are you feeling?" Jessica asked, sitting down in the chair next to the bed.

He considered the question for a moment.

"Tired," he admitted. Jessica bit her lip nervously.

"Go to sleep, baby," she whispered, "You need rest." She kissed his forehead as he fell back to sleep.

"There was an accident at a space station; the ship with the blood had to stop," an unfamiliar voice whispered.

"How much longer will it be?" Jessica whispered back.

"It's hard to tell."

It had been two days since the explosion. He had been sedated for most of it, but they were running out of medicine that was safe for humans. Jessica had angrily contacted every medical facility in the system, but no one was giving up supplies.

"I don't understand how you aren't more upset," she said as he read his book.

"I don't have the energy to," he said bluntly. She chuckled, glancing at his vitals.

"They don't think I'll make it, do they?" he asked, startling her.

"No idea," Jessica said, not looking at him, "They don't tell me shit."

"What a great birthday," he muttered.

Shakily, he reached for a bottle of water. As he took a sip, his entire body tensed as he puked.

"Oh god," Jessica whispered as she pressed the call button, "That's a lot of blood."

The Vellocitarian nurse rushed in and saw the mess.

"Chralnak," they cursed, grabbing a container of wipes.

Keith allowed himself to be cleaned up, determinedly staring at the holographs on the ceiling. He couldn't bear to look at Jessica, for he could already hear her stifled tears.

"Excuse me," she whispered, running out of the room.

"The air was full of their scent, sweet and heady, and it seemed to me as though their very essence had mingled with the running waters of the stream, and beome one with the falling rain and the dank rich moss beneath our feet. There was no sound here but the tumbling of the little stream, and the quiet rain. When Maxim spoke-"

"Jess?" Keith interrupted. She gently marked the page and put the book down.

"What is it, sweetie?" she whispered.

"Should we do our vows?"

The color escaped her face.

"Why would we do that?"

"Well, it's been a while. I don't want to die without being married to you."

There was complete silence, which even the machines did not dare to break as the two gazed upon each other.

"Let's talk about this in the morning," she suggested, squeezing his hand, "When you're a little less tired."

Not wanting to argue, he allowed himself to grow sleepy as Jessica picked the book back up.

"When Maxim spoke his voice was hushed too, gentle and low, as if he had no wish to break upon the silence. 'We call it the Happy Valley,' he said."

It had almost been a week since the explosion. Despite his best efforts, Keith was clearly getting worse. The wound had reopened, and the doctors could not close it without the proper medicine. Jessica spent every second at his side. Mostly they discussed the future they had dreamed of together. But when this got too emotional for them to handle, Jessica would pick up the book and read aloud.

Once again, Keith puked up some blood.

"It's time," he whispered. Eyes filled with tears, Jessica nodded and squeezed his hand.

"I, Jessica, take you, Keith, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love and honor you all the days of my life." She began to sob as he squeezed her hand with what little strength he had.

"I, Keith, take you, Jessica, to be my wife, and these things I promise you: I will be faithful to you and honest with you; I will respect, trust, help, and care for you; I will share my life with you; I will forgive you as we have been forgiven; and I will try with you better to understand ourselves; through the best and worst of what is to come, as long as we live."

They stared at each other.

"Well," he said with a grin, "We did it."

It was late, too late for either of them still to be up. Keith could feel himself fading.

"How many pages do we have left?" he asked.

"Only about five," she said.

"Will you finish it?" he asked. Nodding tightly, she picked the book up and opened it.

"It was going to be very different in the future. I was not going to be nervous and shy of the servants any more. With Mrs. Danvers-"

Keith only half paid attention the exact words, instead focusing on the voice giving them life. The timbre, the cadence, the inflections; he needed to remember.

Jessica could hardly keep her voice steady as she read. She was no fool, anyone could see what was happening. It was odd to be reading on one's deathbed, but she couldn't really expect anything different from the same man who once asked her to prom with a wordball bouquet.

"There was no moon. The sky above our heads was inky black. But the sky on the horizon was not dark at all. It was shot with crimson, like a splash of blood. And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea."

Gently closing the book, she stared down at her husband. He was staring at her with love-filled eyes.

"You are the most beautiful woman," he whispered.

"You look like shit," she said bluntly. He laughed, which became a cough. Holding his hand, she fought back tears for the hundredth time.

"It'll be okay, Jess," he assured her.

"It's not fair," she whispered, tears beginning to stream down her face, "It's just not fair."

"Life's not fair, princess," he said with a smile, "Anyone who says differently is selling something." She smiled at his reference.

"Hold me," Keith whispered, pushing the bed up into a sitting position. Jessica wrapped her arms around him, cherishing each movement.

"Gently," she whispered, laughing a little at her own terrible reference.

"That's all you can say at a time like this? Gent-"

The machines began to beep, but she didn't need them to tell her that he was gone.

 **A.N.: So yeah… sorry about that. I promise this isn't where I originally intended the story to go. But it was just too dramatic this way for me to resist. I'll be waiting for your curses in the review section and I'll try to make a happy little Christmas story soon.**


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